Says Adams, "People are not wired to be rational. Our brains simply evolved to keep us alive. Brains did not evolve to give us truth. Brains merely give us movies in our minds that keeps us sane and motivated. But none of it is rational or true, except maybe sometimes by coincidence."

2. Appeal to emotions

"The evidence," says Adams, "is that Trump completely ignores reality and rational thinking in favor of emotional appeal. Sure, much of what Trump says makes sense to his supporters, but I assure you that is coincidence. Trump says whatever gets him the result he wants. He understands humans as 90-percent irrational and acts accordingly."

3. When you appeal to emotions, facts don't matter

According to Adams, "Trump knows psychology. He knows facts don't matter. He knows people are irrational. While his opponents are losing sleep trying to memorize the names of foreign leaders-in case someone asks-Trump knows that is a waste of time. No one ever voted for a president based on his or her ability to name heads of state. People vote based on emotion. Period."

Adams says, "And identity is always the strongest level of persuasion. The only way to beat it is with dirty tricks or a stronger identity play. Trump is well on his way to owning the identities of American, Alpha Males, and Women Who Like Alpha Males. Clinton is well on her way to owning the identities of angry women, beta males, immigrants, and disenfranchised minorities. If this were poker, which hand looks stronger to you for a national election?"

Published on: Sep 30, 2016

The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.